The Big Job
by Waynethegoblin
Summary: Joshua and Caellach before the events of FE: Sacred Stones. Details their life as mercenaries, their differing lives, and their eventual parting of ways. Redone version of a previous story, more chapters on the way. Please review or give me feedback.
1. Chapter 1

Joshua! Joshua!

"Huh?" Joshua looked up from the game of dice he was playing with a fellow Mercenary. "Ahh, Caellach, what did you do this time?" Caellach stopped in front of the game, trying to catch his breath. "New job... big!", he forced out as he struggled to catch his breath. "I'm riveted", Joshua said sarcastically, turning back to his game. "Hey man, I'm serious; this is going to be great!" Caellach said, trying to garner Joshua's attention. "No offense, but your 'great' jobs never end well, for anyone, fun though they may be." Joshua stated, while shooting the dice for his current bet. "Sure that's true, but still this is an escort, how bad could it be?". "Fine, fine, you win, give me one second", Joshua said, grabbing his winnings from the table and leaving a rather depressed opponent behind.

"Ok then Caellach lead the way, I'm done with this poor man", he said, gesturing back at his opponent. "All right, our employer is up in the middle of camp, let's go", Caellach said as he started walking. "So, we sure this person is going to pay us?' Joshua inquired. "Or course, she's a noble or something, seemed fine to me". "As reliable as your judgment is my friend, I'll trust you for now." Joshua joked. "Fine, if you don't believe me, there she is", he said, pointing to a clearing in front of them.

Joshua put one hand up tho shield his eyes as he peered ahead, then did a double take. "Behind the lady on the horse?" he asked. "Naw, that's her, the one on the horse", Caellach responded. "You realize our employer is a priestess right Caellach?", Joshua asked, turning to his partner. "Really? Huh, didn't figure that...", Caellach said, turning his head to the side, attempting to see what Joshua must have seen. "Your lack of sense is stunning sometimes; she's a Troubadour it looks like, one of the clergy. I'll bet you she's from Rausten too.". "How do you know all that? Huh? Bet you got a thing for holy women or something", Caellach said, trying to stifle his laughter. "Not at all...anyway, let's go, top notch Mercs can't keep a client waiting, its bad policy." Joshua said, looking over to his partner in crime. "Though like I'd know right?" Caellach said, as they both laughed at his expense.

"Hello again ma'am, this my...associate, Joshua, are you ready to depart?" "Yes..." the woman said meekly."Ma'am, exactly where are we going?" Joshua inquired. "Across the border into Rausten. Some of the Divine Imperial Knights will meet us after the crossing...I jusst need help getting that far..." Joshua leaned over to his friend and whispered, "This sounds easy enough". "Yeah, but she's paying well", Caellach whispered back, grinning.

An Hour later...

"I think we're getting closer to Rausten now", Caellach said, breaking a long stretch of silence. "Your powers of observation are amazing, what tipped you off?", Joshua retorted, jabbing his friend in the ribs with the pommel of his sword. "Hey, I am just glad to be out of the damned desert. I wanna go places Joshua! Be someone!" Caellach said, chuckling. "Is this about that 'Mercenary King of Jehanna' thing again? You haven't given that up yet?" Joshua asked, supressing a laugh which was cut short as he spied some movement on the side of the road. "Hold up a sec", Joshua said, scanning the side of the road. "Do we have company?", his partner asked, scanning the treeline. "Quite possibly, ma am, watch yourself, we might have some fighting here in a second", Joshua said, his eyes never leaving the side of the road. "At least I can try out my new axe", Caellach said nonchalantly, hefting said axe on his shoulder. "I still fail to understand why you got that thing man". "If I can't beat you with a sword, I figure I'll use something else, be as good with it as you with a blade", Caellach explained, brushing a thumb across his nose. "Now, let's get this underway", Caellach said, then he yelled out "Come on out! Show yourselves!" At Caellach's booming yell, a small rabbit ran out across their path. "Wow, talk about anti-climactic...AH!" Joshua said, as he ducked, narrowly avoiding a Hand Axe.

"Looks like you were right!", Caellach said, raising his axe. "Oh, to be incorrect for once.", Joshua sighed and took up his fighting stance."Keep the lady in between us", he added. Just as he finished speaking, twenty or so bandits appeared along the sides of the road, surrounding the Mercenaries and their charge. Two overzealous bandits jumped at the heroes, but both were laid out by the flat of a sword and the side of an axe, respectively. More bandits came at the duo. Joshua slashed to his right, injuring the hand of an attacker, and then spun to his left, catching the same attacker with a spinning kick to the jaw. Caellach on the other hand, just swept his axe side to side, taking out three opponents at once. Joshua looked over from an axe user he was skillfully dispatching and disarming and watched Caellach knock aside three more enemies with one blow. "How you can fight like that, I will never understand!", Joshua yelled out over the battle. "Some of us are born fighting and embrace it! Then there's sneaky little bastards like you that must be taught!", Caellach said, laughing as he took out another foe.

"Eeeek!" The two turned around in unison, only to see their charge getting accosted by two bandits that managed to get by them. The woman's horse reared up on its hind legs and lashed out at the bandits, smacking one silly. The other quickly dodged to the side, only to catch a blow to the head from their employer, who was swinging her staff around, both eyes tightly shut. "Is that divine intervention? If gods could do that for me on a regular basis, I'd believe", Caellach said, stifling a laugh. "Or its blind luck, in which case, I'd hate to gamble with her.", Joshua said with a sly smile, "Looks like the motley crew of highwaymen are leaving, in any case.". Stowing his axe, Caellach began walking again. "Well, we better keep moving, get our money and get out of here".

An hour more of walking...

"Like that time you wanted to show off your new blade?" "Huh?" Caellach said, scratching the back of his head. "You kept swinging it around, and hit our employer right in the back of the head, you knocked him out", Joshua explained. "Oh yeah, that". "Then you told him we were 'attacked' and he was knocked out during the fray, you were in fine form that day", Joshua said. "Yeah, but he paid us extra for keeping him safe right?" "That he did, so I guess you didn't do so badly", Joshua said, chuckling softly.

"Here we are", the priestess said, almost inaudibly. "You sure, I don't see anyone..." Caellach said, looking around.

The Knights of Rausten are here!

Oh no, thought Joshua. Over-enthusiastic knights. There's always got to be knights. When I'm king, no knights, they're annoying. In fact, all vassals are annoying, or creepy. That Carlyle...he's an odd one. Still, a King without vassals isn't a King at all...

"Joshua!"

"hnh, swaa?", Joshua blurted out, snapping back to the situation at hand. "These Knights would like to know what all happened on our little mission, care to give them the rundown?" Caellach asked. "Of course...sure, we got across the border, but we were attacked by some bandits. We sent them packing, with no personal injuries. You may want to look into the bandits though." "Wow, you fought those bandits and won?" the knight on the left said. "Good job, we've been having some trouble with them ourselves", the one on the right said. The leader, the one in the center, leveled his eyes on Joshua, and after a moment, finally spoke. "For a few mercs, you two aren't bad. I have a proposition for you." "You have our attention", Caellach said, crossing his arms over his chest. "In your recent encounter with the bandits, you profess to have wounded a great many of them. In their weakened state, it would be relatively simple to defeat the whole lot of them. I have neither the men, nor the authorization to do so now. If you were to defeat the bandit leader, I'd be willing to pay you double your current fee, and then some."

Caellach and Joshua exchanged a glance, and that was all it took.

"We'll do it!" Caellach exclaimed. "When do we get paid?", Joshua inquired. "Here's your escort fee", the knight said, reaching into his saddle bag, and tossing a small pouch to Joshua. Joshua deftly caught it, then threw it up in the air a few times, testing its weight. "I do not have enough with me to cover your second job, but report to Castle Rausten after the deed and you will be paid. We will also compensate your weapon expense, we have a great Armory." the knight explained, "And here, take this, some vulnaries and elixirs". The knight leader tossed Joshua a midsized bag he had stowed on his horses saddle. "Thank you, we'll report to the castle within the day", Joshua said, looping the bag over his head and under one arm, much in the way a messenger would carry it. "May the goddess be with you!" all three knights yelled, as they rode off, their charge in tow.

"Man, what did I tell you? This is gonna be a great day! I knew I had a good feeling about this job!" Caellach said, his voice showing his excitement.

"Here we go again..." Joshua said, taking out a coin and flipping it.


	2. Chapter 2

"So Joshua, what will you do with your share of the money from this job?"

Joshua tipped his hat down forward, pushing some of his red hair into his eyes, using his other hand to lift his sword, gesturing to it with his eyes. "I may see if I can find a smith to fix this old thing"

Caellach chuckled a little. "You've had that beaten up sword since the day I met you, why haven't you fixed it or gotten rid of it?"

"It's…a family heirloom Caellach; you don't just throw them away. You are right in that I should take better care of it though…", Joshua left the sentence hanging, thinking about the sword. He had stolen it away from the armory of Jehanna Hall the night he ran away from his old life. "Anyway, I am not like you Caellach, you spend every gold piece you get on drink and weapons. Weapons you do not even use, I might add. You haven't touched that giant sword of yours since you bought that axe."

"You have to admit this axe was a good purchase though.", Caellach said with a wide grin.

"I suppose. You seem a good fit for axes. Strong, not very subtle, vicious and wicked sometimes."

"Very funny, friend, just you wait. So where is this bandit hideout? Did any of those hapless cavaliers give you any directions?, Caellach called ahead to Joshua, who was now waiting atop a hill up ahead.

"I do believe I found the place! They said we couldn't miss it!", Joshua yelled back, waving his sword in the air as Caellach jogged up the hill. Nestled at the bottom of the hill was a rundown fort, likely an abandoned Rausten outpost.

"Well let's go kick down the door and say hello, crack some skulls, and earn a King's ransom!", the merc said as he hefted his axe over one shoulder.

"I'm no tactician, but that sounds like a terrible plan.", the red haired swordsman said, flipping his coin idly.

"You have a better plan then? Enlighten me."

"Here, I'll play you for it. One flip, you call it. You win, we run in like savage idiots. I win, we lure some out, play it a little smarter." As he finished, Joshua flipped the coin high in the air.

"Heads!" Caellach called out as the coin fell, Joshua deftly caught it, showing it was indeed heads up. "Looks like I win! Look out bandits here we come!" he roared, charging down the hill and up to the front door, and kicking it hard, shattering it into dozens of pieces. Joshua winced as he saw the door explode, sighing as he ran off after his friend.

As he loped up to and through the door, he arrived just in time to see Caellach slash a man open with his axe, then kick him square in the wounded chest, sending him to the ground. Joshua looked past his friend, deeper into the ruined fort. The opening hall seemed to lead deep into the heart of the fort, splitting off to the sides to cover the perimeter defenses.

"Caellach, I think this hall leads directly to the center of the base. What do you think?

"Maybe. What say we ask him?", he responded, picking up a bandit that had been passed out, nursing a bottle of what smelled like rotgut alcohol. Caellach slapped the man hard, waking the bandit, who let out a foul string of curses, followed by wide eyed silence looking at the man holding him up with one hand.

"Where is your boss, tell us and I'll make sure my friend here lets you live." Joshua said with a cold and level voice.

The bandit trembled visibly, pointing down the entrance hallway, toward the center of the fort.

Caellach grinned, dropping the man to the floor and delivering a savage kick to his jaw as he hit the ground. Joshua grimaced as some of the bandit's teeth flew out and hit the wall, then clattered to the floor.

"You heard the man, let's get moving.", Caellach said, walking down the hall, axe at his side. Joshua jogged a few paces to catch up, walking as he got in front of Caellach.

"I think we should set up in this intersection up ahead, we can block that four way hallway and bring the bandits to us, what do you think?" Just as Joshua finished, he took a step into the intersection. In that split second, his ear picked up a faint whistling sound, and Joshua ducked his head just in time to avoid an axe head that buried itself in the wall, narrowly missing the neck of the myrmidon. Joshua's eyes darted up , seeing a huge bandit trying to wrest his axe from the wall's grip. The bandit saw Joshua looking up at him and swung his fist at the red haired swordsman. Joshua weaved out of the way, letting the fist smash into the wall hard. The sound of breaking bone rang out in the hall. Without missing a beat, Joshua stood up and spun left with a kick, connecting with the bandit's elbow, which shattered with a sick crunch. In one fluid motion, Joshua kept turning, grabbing the bandit's head, slamming it against the wall. The bandit's head crunched against the stone and bounced back as he collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Caellach walked up, looking over the crumpled heap of bandit. Joshua was breathing heavily, trying to compose himself. "That was pretty brutal. Be a long time before that man can eat properly, much less wield a weapon.", the taller merc said, running a hand over his slicked back hair.

"He'll live, which is probably better than he deserves. Get ready, seems that one has some friends coming.", the myrmidon said, taking a deep breath as he held his sword down in his ready stance. Caellach got the message and settled into his own stance, holding his axe out in front of himself with one hand, the other at the ready. The friends turned to face different directions, standing back to back for a moment as the sound of feet hitting stone grew louder and louder.

Not much more than half a minute later, three groups of bandits came from the three hallways the pair of heroes had not traveled Each group had roughly five men, totaling some fifteen opponents against the two friends. All three groups rushed their two opponents are around the same time. Caellach was the first to strike, swinging his axe to one side and lashing out with a fist, taking out two opponents at once. As he swung left, he turned for a split second, giving one bandit all the leave he needed to give Caellach a slash across the chest with a long blade. Caellach roared in pain, cutting the bandit deep in the neck with his massive axe. His victim's neck spurted a torrent of red blood as the axe was withdrawn and used upon yet another bandit.

As Caellach was dispatching his fourth attacker, Joshua was weaving his way through his fifth attack. Joshua fought and moved like water, flowing past attacks and blades, making swift strikes at all who overextended even slightly. Within a few seconds two of his opponents were hamstrung, one was two fingers shy of a good hand, and another was nursing a broken jaw courtesy of his curved blade's pommel. Joshua then spun like a top, slashing each opponent in turn, catching three across the chest, one in the face, and the other across his once "good" arm. The man with the arm wound was the only one left standing, looking in horror at his severed fingers and ruined right arm. Joshua finished him quickly, shattering his knee with a sharp kick and putting him out cold on the ground with a blow from the flat of his sword.

Caellach and Joshua both turned to see the approaching five from the center of the fort at the same time, having finished off two groups. Without a word they set on the third group in perfect harmony. Joshua went low, taking out the front man with a leg sweep and finishing him with a downward stab to the gut. Caellach threw his axe just as the man started to fall, the heavy axe tumbling end over end where the man used to be, finding purchase in the chest of the taller man behind him. The man looked thunderstruck for a moment until Caellach leapt of the fallen first man and punched the second in the face, riding his body to the ground. As he bent over to free his axe, Joshua stepped on his back with one foot, using it to launch himself in the air, only to push off from the wall and slash the next bandit across the throat. Caellach, abandoning his axe, covered the distance between himself and the last bandit in one pace, kicking him hard in the gut. As the large axe wielding bandit doubled over, Caellach seized his head in a lock under his arm and broke his neck cleanly, letting the body drop to the floor. The last living bandit turned to run down the hall, hoping to escape, or perhaps warn his leader of the two warriors. Joshua tore off after him, and it was a matter of seconds before the smaller myrmidon leapt on the large brigand and drove him to the ground, sword held in front of his neck. The big bandit fell, neck sliced cleanly by the force of the fall driving his neck onto the blade.

The two friends caught their breath, taking a moment to search the bodies for documents and cash. They found little of either. Caellach stood up from the last body, wincing in pain. "Hey Joshua, where's that satchel the knight gave you? I got slashed pretty good." Joshua took a vulnary from the bag and tossed it to his friend. Caellach drank down the healing liquid, wincing as it knitted the flesh and dulled the pain a little. He stretched, satisfied with the healing. "Ah, like magic. Almost wish we had the cute church healer with us about now eh?", he said, laughing. Joshua had a soft spot for holy women that was by now, well explored in humor with the friends.

"Very funny. Are you well enough to fight?", Joshua asked, a small hint of concern in his voice as he headed down the hall toward the center of the fort. Caellach followed at a slower pace.

"I'll be fine; will have a nice scar to show for it. You know how the ladies love scars", he said with a smile. He continued walking, finally approaching Joshua, who had stopped in front of a door of heavy wood. "From the look on your face, I don't suppose you found a key for this door?" Joshua shook his head. "Alright, stand aside", Caellach said, pushing Joshua back. The big merc hefted his axe in both hands, taking two heavy swings at the door. The wood stood up to the first swing, although deeply gouged. The second swing cut a big hole in the door, which Caellach reached through and unlocked the door, pushing it open.

Joshua clapped lightly in approval. "You are quite skilled with that axe, given that you picked it up a week or so ago. At this rate you might become the hero of heroes.", the crimson haired swordsman said. "I doubted at first, but you are a quick study."

"I would prefer to be the king of kings. Maybe I could settle for being a Hero King eh?", Caellach shot back, wearing a wide grin.

The room beyond the door was massive, more than likely the main hall for the fort. The hall was shockingly bare, with not much but a few tables and a large throne. Upon the throne sat a massive man, a large green metal axe propped up at his side. The man stood as the pair entered. "It would seem you killed my men! A pity really. Still, might be nice to not divide the spoils any longer. But I suppose none of that matters to you fools. Best to kill you now, and send a message to anyone who would dare cross me again. I do hope you understand. A bandit king taken down by two filthy sellswords just doesn't sit right with me."

Caellach rested his axe on his shoulder. "A king? You talk fancy enough to be one, but you ain't a king.", he said as he slowly walked forward. "See, I know something about kings. And if I'm not one, you sure as hell aren't!" Caellach surged forward, raising his axe above his head in a dead sprint. He covered the length of the hall with impressive speed, while his opponent stayed deadly still. Caellach bolted up the stairs and made a powerful downward swing. The bandit leader simply sidestepped as the axe bit into the wooden throne. He then kicked Caellach hard in the gut as he picked up his own axe. He raised his knee and hit the merc again, driving him back from the throne and his axe. As Caellach stumbled back, the bandit brought up his axe and hit him in the side, driving him back down the stairs, where he landed and didn't move. Joshua rushed to his side and shook him twice, but his friend didn't respond. He was still breathing, which was all he could hope for right now.

"I sincerely hope you are a better combatant than your friend. This is too easy.", the bandit said from the throne

"I assure you I will make this fight worth it. You can bet on it", Joshua shot back, climbing halfway up the stairs and holding his sword back in his beginning stance.

The bandit came down two steps, swinging down hard with his axe from overhead. Joshua pulled his sword up and across his body, parrying the blow to his left. The bandit pulled back up and swung again from the same position. Joshua swung back across his body, knocking the axe away to his right, causing the bandit to over extend and stumble. In a flash, Joshua made two deep cuts across the bandit's bare chest. His target yelled out, bringing his axe in a wide sideways arc, level with Joshua's head. The speedy myrmidon saw it coming and back flipped, landing one stair down as the bandit swung wide. Seizing the advantage again. Joshua stepped up and kicked the bandit in the side of the knee as he turned with his swing. With a nasty crunch, the joint bent inward, and the bandit fought to stay upright. Joshua followed with a deep slash up his side and a leg sweep, sending the bandit down onto the stairs. As he crashed against the hard stone stairs, the bandit's neck landed on the edge of the stair, snapping loudly.

For a moment Joshua stood at the ready, but it soon passed. Readjusting his hat to the center of his head, he brushed the hair from his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. His relief was short lived, remembering Caellach in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Rushing over, Joshua fished out an elixir and poured it down Caellach's throat. After a minute that seemed to last forever, the mercenary stirred, coughing up a little of the liquid.

"God that stuff is wretched. Worse than a vulnary", Caellach coughed out after a while. "Thanks for the save Joshua, I mean it." Joshua smiled roguishly and offered his hand, pulling Caellach to his feet. "I assume we won?", he asked as he clutched his stomach and side.

Joshua nodded, turning to walk up to the body. He looked it over, trying to figure out what to do with it. They would need proof they had done the deed, but he didn't fancy carrying around a head in a loaned satchel. His eye caught a fine amulet around the bandit's neck. Perfect. Joshua pulled the amulet off the corpse, breaking the string it was on and stowing it n his satchel. Satisfied, Joshua picked up the man's axe and turned to face his friend. "Catch!"

Caellach reached up and caught the axe by the handle in one hand. "Seems a little morbid to carry an axe that has spilled your own blood. Still, it is a fine thing…", he said, stowing it over his back "Anyway, job finished, how do you suppose we get to Castle Rausten?"

"Joshua took out his favorite coin, running his fingers over it. "I saw some hay and oats and feed on the way in. maybe these bandits have some horses."

"Interesting. Does either of us know how to ride?", Caellach asked with a smile.

"I guess we are about to find out", Joshua said with a smile, flipping his coin and snatching it out of the air as he headed for the door.


End file.
